After reading many posts, I am trying to formulate a plan for my friend and I when I visit her in March. We are spending some time in Sonoma and visiting relatives and then we want to drive down to Big Sur and Carmel. I was thinking of booking a room at a Marriott in Larkspur on the Sunday evening after our day in the wine country. That would put us a little bit closer to SF than the Sonoma area so we can get a better head start the next morning to get through SF and on to Big Sur. We plan to be on the road by 6:00 a.m. and hope to drive the quickest route to Big Sur and shop around some then have lunch at Nepenthe. After lunch we would go to Julia Pfieffer Burns State park to see the waterfall I have read so much about. Then we would work our way back towards Carmel and hopefully stop at Point Lobos and the Carmel Mission on the way. That should make for a very full day, is it doable though? We are planning to stay in Carmel at a B & B. I found one called The Green Lantern Inn that sounds nice and has special internet rates of $59-$89 a night through April 30th. Does anyone know anything about this B & B or recommend any others in particular?
The next day, we were going to get up fairly early, have breakfast, go for a walk, and check out by the time the shops and galleries start opening. Then we can explore the downtown area of Carmel before heading out via Pacific Grove. We would like to stop in PG for a little while to shop around a bit. Then we will head back to Sacramento area by late afternoon where my friend lives.
Would any of you who has an informed opinion let me know if this is a decent plan?
Thank you very much and thanks to all who posted so much information to help me decide all of the things we want to do.

je519,

Your plan sounds doable, although the first day will be a bit hectic. Instead of booking a room in LArkspur, I would stay in or near Sonoma. The fastest way to get to big Sur will not requie you to drive through SF. From Sonoma take 12/680 south/101 south/156 west/1 south. I would plan on about a 4 hour trip. If you are traveling on a weekday, you will be able to take advantage of the carpool lane on 680 which will save you time.

I don't know much about the Green Lantern Inn in Carmel. I have heard people save good things about Seven Gables and Green Gables Inn which are both in Pacific Grove. Pacific Grove has a great selection of accomodations.

http://pacificgrove.org/

Have a great time in California.

we're also going to that area, but at the end of march. let us know how your trip went and what the weather was like!

My only comment is you mention "shopping around" in Big Sur. Did you mean Carmel? Because Big Sur is not a shopping mecca.

If you're looking for shopping in Big Sur, the gift shop at the Ventana Inn & Spa may be your best bet. It is a gorgeous gift shop with jewelry, artwork, lots of sweatshirts and t-shirts. The view is beautiful from the back of the shop. It's worth a look just to see this and have a drink or lunch out on the patio at Cielo's! Have fun! ***kim***

I'm no expert on the area by any means, but I think Big Sur isn't really a destination--its a journey. I don't think there is really a town there...a few restaurants, resorts etc. The draw is the natural scenery.

The restaurant Nepenthe does have a gift shop on one of its levels - it's mostly New-Age type stuff, not really worth spending time or money on, IMO, although there are some local artists (jewelry, fabric and glass designers) who have some of their work for sale there. I'd try to work in a little more time for your intinerary in case you want to linger, either for the scenery or the shopping, or possibly to drive back up north via Highway One.

Check out the Big Sur Bakery, about a 30-minute drive down the coast highway out of Carmel (for the life of me, I can't remember if it comes "before" or "after" Pfeiffer State Park). If the weather permits, sit out on their porch with a pastry and coffee and drink in the view of the Santa Lucia mountains.

Its doable but you may feel rushed. From S.F to Big Sur is an easy three hour drive. Your lunch at Nepenthe is a wise choice, dont rush it. The waterfall is a "hike" up to the waterfall. It takes about 20 min. up to the fall.You definatly got a winter rate as far as your B& B goes. Slow time of year so you scored. Shops in Carmel open around 10 am.

As one very familiar with the whole area between Sonoma County and Big Sur, I'll offer disagreement with some of the advice above.

First, the route described by TKay, traveling down to Carmel via the east side of San Francisco Bay, would be the fastest from Sonoma County only from the town of Sonoma or nearby towns in the east end of the County.

Perhaps this is where you'd be starting from, but if you stay closer to anywhere else in the County, including Healdsburg and its surrounding wine areas, the Russian River, Santa Rosa, Petaluma or Bodega Bay, the route through San Francisco, even with a few stoplights in The City, will be faster.

I have often taken the route TKay recommends from Sonoma County when my destination was in the East Bay, have also lived at several locations along it, and I can tell you it is very often bottlenecked or slow, and at all times it is much less scenic and pleasant than the route south through San Francisco.

I think your original plan of staying in Larkspur Sunday night and heading south through San Francisco was far superior to the idea of staying anywhere in Sonoma County and going down to Carmel via the East Bay route. This is especially true since, surprisingly, the slowest part of the rush hour drive from Sonoma County to San Francisco down 101 is the stretch between Petaluma and San Rafael, and in Larkspur you will be starting at a point past that bottleneck.

But even better, in my view, since all the wineries will close around 5 to 6 PM on Sunday, would be to drive to a point south of San Francisco on Sunday night (which, then, should take you less than two hours no matter how far north in the tourist areas of Sonoma County you start from) and then drive to Carmel from there Monday morning, thereby avoiding the commote rush into S.F. entirely.

Whatever time you go, I would recommend taking the Highway One exit just south of the Golden Gate Bridge for the quickest, most pleasant drive through The City, and letting it lead you to 280 which you should take until it meets 101 again in San Jose. You might want to consider the Best Western Lighthouse in Pacifica as an ocean view lodging alternative not far from the intersection of Hihways 1 and 280.

While the two B&B's in Pacific Grove recommended by TKay, both oceanfront Victorians, are spectacular (and pricey) ones, I think that Carmel is on the whole a much more unique and interesting locale for both lodging and shopping than Pacific Grove. I'm not familiar with the Green Lantern, but I have seen it often recommended, particularly as a good value. My impression is, though, that it is somewhat out of the center of things in Carmel, which may be a big consideration since walking in Carmel is a delight but parking often a major hassle (althogh perhaps not on a weekday the time of year you are going.)

There are many very quaint and interesting places to stay in central Carmel, and the weekday-season consideration might make it possible for you to score a place which gets top dollar on summer weekends for much less. I have stayed at Vagabond's House and recommend it enthusiastically, but there are many other attractive choices.

I do think you are trying to jam a little too much into your Monday afternoon, and would recommend leaving the Carmel Mission (which is beautiful, and do see it) for the following morning, especially since it will close relatively early on Monday and you will want to take your leisure in Big Sur and Point Lobos. The Mission is near the highway and will be easy to hit on your way out of town.

I very much disagree with another prior poster--Big Sur is definitely a destination as well as a journey, and there is wonderful dining, shopping, lodging, hiking and just sitting drinking in the fabulous views (perhaps with an accomanpanying libation) to be had there. For the latter activity, Nepenthe is indeed a prime spot. The outdoor terrace, where they serve drinks and sometimes snacks, is the place to do it. Unfortunately, the views from the restaurant itself are not as good and the food overpriced and pedestrian.

I agree with the poster above who recommends Cielo at the Ventana Inn, just north of Nepenthe, as a better choice for lunch, especially if the weather is good enough for them to serve meals on their terrace which, unlike Nepenthe, they do. Certainly the cuisine is far better than Nepenthe, and surprisingly moderately priced at lunch, considering how pricey it is for dinner. Cielo, although quite close to Nepenthe, is at a much higher elevation, and the view of both mountains and coastline is very different.

Unfortunately, the higher altitude also means it is more likely to be foggy and cold up there, especially in the time of year you will be traveling. But if temperatures are comfortable and visibility is good, I'd drink in both views, probably with lunch at Cielo and drinks at Nepenthe.

There is enormously interesting shopping to be had in Big Sur. Contrary to the comments above, and to my opinion of the food in the restaurants, I'd rank the store at Nepenthe over the one at Ventana, although I think both are worth a stop, as is the Coast Gallery a few miles south, on the way the J.P. Burns state park and the McVay waterfall, to which I join in recommending the short and easy walk.

I'll be eager to read your impressions once you're back!

Tkay's route to Big Sur rally makes the most sense. Even if you leave by 6:00 AM, the traffic going through SF is an absolute nightmare. In SF once you get on 19th Avenue, it will be about 7 or 8 miles of traffice and more often than not you end up getting practically every stop light. That part along could take about 30 minutes.

TKay's route is basically freeway, and on the 680 heading toward San Jose you can utilize the carpool lane as well. 680 is actually is a scenic freeway with the rolling hills. Once you get into The City, 680 south becomes 280 north. You can take 101 as TKay has suggested or instead take 280 north to 17 south then 1 south for the most scenic route to Big Sur.

Jet, beware. Those of us who post often on the Northern California threads will all quickly recognize "TKay" and "Franklinn" as the same person, expressing the same set of opinions in the same writing style, who is constantly on these threads, congratulating by name the posts he or she has posted in the same thread under other screen names.

This individual is certainly entitled to his or her views and to express them, but to try to deceive by posing as a number of different people, in order to try to "outvote" others, is pathetic, and an abuse of this forum.

Johncharles thank you very much! All of the suggestions you made are exactly what I was looking for. I have been to Sonoma, San Francisco, and the Monterey Bay and Big Sur areas before but I have not been to the MB Peninsula since 1996 and I was with my husband and kids so it was a different kind of vacation. We barely saw Carmel and big Sur and spent more time in Monterey. I am going to look into your lodging suggestions especially since the room I wanted at green lantern inn is not available now so I would not be getting the deal I wanted anyway. The only problem with staying south of SF Sunday night might be that we are getting together with my cousin in Santa Rosa for dinner so we might not be heading to the hotel until after 8:00 p.m. that evening. Still, what else do we have to do anyway, we might as well enjoy an evening drive through
SF especially if it will save us some drive time the next morning. I will post after the trip for sure on how it turns out. Thanks to all for the advice.

Dear johncharles,

I just wanted to thank you for your insight and thoughts in your post. While I 'did' the CA coast for two weeks last summer from SF down to Ventura, I have so much more that I want to go back and do. I have copied your suggestions to my hard drive.

I would also like to suggest a fireplace room at The Normandy Inn in the heart of downtown Carmel. A great little hotel!

I love Pacifc Grove but I must say "shopping" there is a limited experience. While I am not so much a fan of Carmel, I think you will find more there to shop for. There are a multitude of galleries in Carmel as well.
In Pacific Grove I would say the monarch butterfly habitat is worth a stop. If you want a good breakfast check out Toasties. The shorepath from Pacifc Grove to Monterey is also a wonderful walk and would be much more enjoyable than shopping in Pacifc Grove(and I am a serious shopper). I'd also suggest a stopping place other than Larkspur on the way down. I'd say either around the SF airport or even closer to San Jose for an overnight. You can avoid the 6 am wake up/departure and still be in Monterey by noon if you want.

You've received some terrific suggestions so far, especially from johncharles. PamSF's suggestion to stay near the airport or a little farther south on your way down is a good one since the drive from there is not bad at all.

BTW - in case you hadn't figured it out yet -- Franklinn, TKay, Robinsen and Hann (I don't think Hann has shown up onn this thread yest but he probably will) are all one and the same person. The forum had a LOT of problems w/ this guy last year and the edotors banished him (including about 15 other aliases) but I notice he's been posting again the last few days. Unfortunately he takes great pleasure in leading innocent travelers astray.

Oops - that should read "editors" . . . .